thomasd2

Another photo with him:

see comment there

Frank H. Burnside was the primary test pilot for Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company (predecessor to the Thomas-Morse company). Here, he is posing next to the Thomas D-2 observation aircraft. The identify of this aircraft is confirmed by the photograph in the bottom panel on Page 12 of the March 20, 1916 issue of Aerial Age Weekly (see link). The text accompanying the photo reads: Photograph of Thomas D-2 type military tractor, taken before its speed trials, which resulted in a new American record of ninety-five miles an hour. The compact Thomas 135 H.P. Aeromotor, with which this machine is equipped, makes possible a very neat installation. Attention is called to the single exhaust pipe, which is in the path of the down draft from the descending propeller blade, sweeping the exhaust gases under the fuselage and away from the pilot and passenger. The next photo in the LoC photostream is another photo of the Thomas D-2. Another photo of Burnside:

Thanks for the information about Burnside and the link to a resource that provides convincing evidence for the identification of the airplane. We'll add information to our description.

Frank Burnside was living in Ithaca, NY with occupation of Aviator for the 1920 census. See his record in HistoryForge for Tompkins County at tompkins.historyforge.net/people/160352

This is the Thomas D-2 observation plane. See comments under:

Thanks for providing the information and the link to a resource that provides convincing evidence for the identification (March 20, 1916 issue of Aerial Age Weekly). We'll add information to our description.